Van Life: The New Tiny Home Trend 

March 10, 2021 CATALYST Team

More people than ever are living in camper vans and traveling the country. What is the appeal of van life, and is it really as simple as it looks?

A person sitting on a camper van. Oliver Ahlbrecht. CC BY-NC-SA 2.0

Some of the most popular travel accounts on TikTok are run by people living in their cars. The most common type of car featured is a van, converted to a house with a sleeping area, a kitchen and room for essential supplies. The movement has been dubbed “van life.” But some of the TikTokers live in larger vehicles, like converted school buses or even an ambulance. The hashtag #vanlife on TikTok has over 3 billion total views, and most of the videos under it have hundreds of thousands, or even millions, of likes. The videos feature people who live like modern nomads, constantly traveling and looking for new adventures. Some posters share the process of renovating their vehicles to live in, showing how a school bus can be altered (complete with electrical wiring and plumbing) to comfortably house a family. Other videos are snippets of day-to-day life in a van.

The van life trend has been around for a while, but it has skyrocketed in popularity and fame in recent years. Van life dates back to Victorian times, when travelers would vacation in caravans pulled by horses. With the introduction of automobiles, people gained more freedom in their travel. They no longer had to rely on trains to take them where they wanted to go, and were instead able to drive across the country and explore wherever the roads took them. People would go “auto-camping,” a way of vacationing pioneered in 1915 by Henry Ford, Thomas Edison and Harvey Firestone where they would drive to scenic destinations and then sleep in tents. Eventually, car manufacturers began to develop cars with seats that pulled out so people could sleep in their vehicles. Camper vans, like the Volkswagen van, exploded in popularity because of their shape, size and how easy they were to customize to individuals’ needs. Years later, in 2012, former fashion designer Foster Huntington coined #vanlife on Instagram after quitting his job and moving into a van. Since then, van life has become widespread on social media and in real life, with influencers on a number of social media platforms adopting the lifestyle.

On social media, van life seems idyllic: gorgeous views, minimal possessions or responsibilities, and the freedom to travel anywhere at any time. It looks like the perfect escape from the stresses of the world, especially amid the ongoing pandemic. Van life isn’t without its downsides, though.

The inside of a camper van with a bed and storage space. Hagbard_. CC BY-NC-ND 2.0

Purchasing and renovating a camper van to be comfortably livable takes time and money, and most people are not able to add amenities like water or electricity to their vehicles. Camper vans are not RVs; they don’t typically come equipped with toilets or showers, meaning those who live in vans have to find their own. A New Zealand blogger writes that when she was living in her camper van, she often just showered in lakes. Small portable toilets are an option, as is searching for public restrooms, but neither way is particularly convenient or appealing. Living in a van, especially with another person, means travelers will have very little privacy, since they’ll most likely be parking in public spaces. “Vanlifers” are constantly moving around, which is part of the lifestyle’s appeal, but having no permanent home can also be draining after a while. The nomadic lifestyle also means those living in camper vans may not have access to the convenience of online ordering or food delivery. Sometimes vans break down, or people fall ill, or bad weather makes exploring impossible. People considering van life need to be prepared to deal with these potential outcomes.

Van life also has plenty of benefits, like the chance to simplify one’s life by downsizing, the opportunity to join a community of people living similarly and the ability to find new adventures outside one’s doorstep every day. Van life is cheaper than paying rent, a mortgage and utility bills, and there are apps to help travelers find public bathrooms and places to park. Living in a van offers the chance to get in touch with oneself and the outside world by decreasing expenses and adding more time to work on passion projects. But it's still necessary to have some sort of income, or to have money set aside to fund van life.

With all the pressures and expectations of real life, it’s no wonder that more people than ever are opting to leave settled society behind and turn to van life instead. Van life is a unique way to chase excitement and adventure, but it’s important to think beyond the hashtag before jumping into the lifestyle.